The present invention relates generally to a luminaire and more particularly to system to distribute light, which includes a plurality of lighting fixture components.
There are many factors that control the market for luminaires and lighting systems. A few important factors are the ability to create a well-lit hospitable environment, cost efficiency such as operating cost and other associated costs, code compliance, and lighting quality more particularly the distribution of light and shadows. Traditional luminaires create shadows, specifically hard shadows which are crisply defined and have sharp edges. This can produces a more harsh or inhospitable environment. This issue is magnified when luminance is needed for highlighting an article, such as a statute in a museum or a model's face, because the hard shadows may cast lines onto the article making the article's details difficult to view. To make the environment's luminance more comfortable and make articles in the surrounding area look more natural, the elimination of bold shadows is needed. What is sought after is a soft shadow, which is less distinct and fades off toward the edges. Soft shadows do no cast sharp lines as hard shadows do. Hard shadows have an umbra, a completely dark shadow cast by an object. Whereas soft shadows have both an umbra and a penumbra, which is a partial shadow between the complete shadow and complete luminance, where part of the light source is visible. Hard shadows have a sharp transition between complete luminance and umbra, which creates distinct lines.
As such, there is a demand for a luminaire that casts a soft shadow, thus producing a graduated shadow with no distinct lines.